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Hello All,First off, I thought I knew something about sharpening and knives that was until I found this site and Mark's videos. Hats off to you sir!!!

I am a home want-a-be chef who values and understands the importance of good sharp knives. I don't have good knives-hopefully changing soon-, but I try to keep them sharp. I've been using Arkansas stones for my knives and edged tools-I also dabble in woodworking-for years and made the mistake of using them as oil stones when I first used them and now really wish I had started with water.

In any event, I want to switch over to water stones. I believe they will produce a better edge then the Arkansas stones on the high-carbon steel knives I plan to upgrade to. Plus I would rather the mess of a water stone in the kitchen than the mess of oil. My problem is tight budget and not sure what grade of water stone to replace each oil stone with. I am going to slowly replace the stones I have for the water stones and used them both until I have a complete set of water stones for my knives. Any problem with doing that besides having to clean the blade thoroughly before going from oil to water.Here's what I have: Washiba Arkansas Soft Arkansas Hard Arkansas surgical black - I have seen this compared to a 4000 grit water stone, true???I also plan on adding a strop, thinking balsa, to my tool box not sure on which compound to use. Any suggestions as to which stones to switch to and what compound to start off with will be greatly appreciated.

I recently just got back into freehand sharpening and I started out with 3 stones. I bought the red brick 1k, green brick 2k, and seuhiro rika 5k. Now these 3 perform beautifully but I would also suggest getting a 400-600 range stone for bevel setting. Also for you I wouldn't see a problem skipping the 2k. You will just need a bit more time on 5k. These stones are also very reasonable, although I do not know your budget.

As Drew suggested a good 1K stone should be your first choice. Then use your black ark. You can use the ark dry with no oil on it and it should give you a better edge than with oil. That will cut down on the mess.

Thank you all for the info, it has helped.He's a few more questions. The other two stones I have, Arkansas soft and Washiba, how should I use them? I would like to get a flattening plate, I recently use sand paper and it took a good part of the day for 3 stones, but I see myself only able to get one for now. Any suggestions for a all-around-starter stone I could use for the oil and whetstones. I was thinking of the 140 Grit Diamond Stone Flattening Plate.

burkecutlery

Post subject: Re: From oil to water

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:34 pm

Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:55 amPosts: 473

The 140 grit plate is a good way to get your knives started, and it will flatten your stones just fine.

For your Arkies, don't use oil. Use Simple green--if you get the regular stuff mix it 50/50 with water, and if you get concentrate, use 1oz and 4 cups of water. It'll cut faster and keep the stone cleaner.

Edmon, thanks for the tip, but can I switch to using the Simply Green after I have been using oil for years on these stones?

I have been checking out the stone suggestions and some others. I am thinking about Naniwa Super Stone 1000 as my baptism into Whetstones. They fit my current budget and I like that they are splash and go stones. Anyone got any input?

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